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Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem etched his name in history books after he clinched a gold in men’s javelin throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nadeem not only claimed the gold, surpassing the likes of India’s Neeraj Chopra, Grenada’s Anderson Peters, among others, he also set an Olympic record with his monstrous throw of 92.97m, which came in his second attempt at the Stade de France in Paris.
He surpassed his Indian opponent and former Olympic gold medallist, Neeraj Chopra, who finished second, he also became the first Pakistani to win an individual gold medal at Summer Games. Seeing this, Nadeem also could not hold back his tears of joy as he broke the previous Olympic record, which was etched at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.
Pakistani cricketers react after Arshad Nadeem wins historic gold at Paris Olympics
Seeing this, the members of the Pakistan cricketing fraternity also expressed their joy and jumped in celebrations. Former Pakistan cricketer, Shoaib Akhtar took to social media to congratulate Nadeem while expressing how this feat as changed the mood of the entire nation.
Speaking a video post, Akhtar said, “Out of nowhere, this son of a lion has won Pakistan a gold medal. What a player, Arshad! You have achieved this on your own, with your own hardwork and calibre. Many congratulations to you, to Pakistan. Mood of the entire country has changed with one gold medal… One guy is trending across the whole world, that is Arshad Nadeem.”
In another video which was shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on its official Instagram handle, cricketer, including Umar Gul and Sarfaraz Ahmad can be seen jumping as they saw Nadeem cross the 90m mark in his second attempt.
While Arshad Nadeem’s first throw was disqualified, he breached the Olympic record in his second attempt with a 92.97m throw. He also managed to throw 88.72m, 79.40m, 84.87m and 91.79m, crossing the 90m mark twice.
